Metal News for June 22, 2012

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News Archive

38 news articles posted on this day.

New York's Cosmic Sea has issued the following announcement about canceling upcoming tour dates:

"Sadly we have to announce that our tour starting next week has been cancelled due to circumstances completely outside of our control.

"However, we are moving our touring schedule to the fall and have better opportunities that come along with it as well. Now pushing that bad news aside we have good news.

"Tracking is coming along great. We are coming up with some really great sounds and are very excited to share it with you. We've also been taking videos and pictures of the time we're spending here that we will have up shortly. More music, merch, art, shows, and videos to come soon!"

Seattle's Anhedonist is set to embark on the Descent Into The Sepulchre west coast tour with Dead Congregation and Grave Miasma this July. The band is touring in support of its full-length debut, "Netherwards," which is out now on Dark Descent Records with vinyl treatment coming soon from Parasitic/Nuclear Winter Records. Check out a stream of the song "Estrangement" at BrooklynVegan.com and the four dates posted so far for the tour.

Texas in July has now posted a fourth and final in-studio clip from the band's sting working on a new album with Will Putney at The Machine Shop Studios. Watch video #4 below, or you can still check out the last video update from Texas in July over here.

Howard TV takes viewers on a heavy metal adventure with the airing of a new episode of the Behind The Scenes Show: The Making of Richard Christy's Music Video. Howard Stern Show on-air personality and segment Producer Richard Christy is also a well-known heavy metal drummer. Christy's band, Charred Walls of the Damned, chose the song "Zerospan" to be the subject of the album's signature video. Fans will get a close-up look at the concept behind the video and how it all came together in this new Howard TV On Demand show airing until August 6, 2012.

Cameras follow Richard and his production team as they shoot in upstate New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan's Washington Heights during a whirlwind two-day shoot. The video features complex horror scenes filled with special effects that show the lead character getting transformed into a "horribly mutated creature" because of an overload of technological stimulation (the theme of "Zerospan").

Weighing in with their reactions to the video from the show are Gary Dell'Abate, Robin Quivers and Howard Stern. Richard Christy elaborates on the video's concept: "I'm so excited that fans will finally be able to see the Zerospan video after many months of hard work!" He enthusiastically continues, "For fans of horror like myself, this video is the perfect mix of technological horror and all out brutality. The Zerospan video is like a mini horror film and the story follows the lyrical subject matter perfectly and creates a haunting vision of a man absorbed by the world's ever growing technology. What it comes down to, though, is that it's pretty much just a kick ass heavy metal video! Big thanks to everyone who helped make this video awesome!" More...

Just days after the release of a new video for “Amend,” The Overseer brings another hard rock reckoning in the form of “Vulture” – the third preview track from upcoming debut, "We Search, We Dig" – streaming now via Revolvermag.com.

“‘Vulture’ was the last song that we wrote for the album,” says bassist Bradley Riggs. “We actually wrote it in the studio and it turned out great, with a hard-hitting intro and a bridge that was unlike anything we’d done before. It has a heavy Deftones sort of feel to it and I think listeners will hear the versatility of our influences and writing style.”

The following press release was also issued about the album:

"Recorded earlier this year at Atlanta's Glow In The Dark studios, We Search, We Dig is a huge, dynamic debut that calls to mind artists like Underoath, Thrice, and Cave in though with a clear, distinct voice that never emulates those artists directly. With this release, The Overseer delivers hard-hitting, uncompromising hard rock that belies the members’ young age. This isn’t 'cash in on the latest trend' music, it’s 'sweat and tears' hard rock, with a little blood thrown in for good measure.

"Now, with the album's release on the horizon, The Overseer has gone back to doing the OTHER thing they do best: Tour, tour and tour, taking their music and their spiritually-minded message to eager fans. In support of the album, the band will hit the road this June and July as part of the More Than Sound tour, headlined by War of Ages."

After the terror/hilarity of previous music video "Doki Doki Morning," the 13 year old Japanese girl pop/metal menace that is Babymetal has now released a new clip. Check out "Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!" in the YouTube video provided below. For some reason you can also apparently buy Babymetal songs via iTunes.

Katatonia's new album "Dead End Kings" will hit stores in North America on August 28th via Peaceville Records. "Dead End Kings" is the long-awaited follow-up to 2009’s "Night is the New Day" (reviewed here).

"Dead End Kings" European pre-orders are now available via oMerch and North American pre-orders will begin next week. Stay tuned for more details. The album's track listing is as follows:

1. The Parting2. The One You Are Looking for is Not Here (with Silje Wergeland)3. Hypnone4. The Racing Heart5. Buildings6. Leech7. Ambitions8. Undo You9. Lethean10. First Prayer11. Dead Letters More...

"Just a few days ago, Avulsed played at what's probably the best metal festival in Europe: Hellfest! We had a fucking great time over there and we're so happy of having the chance of playing there in front of thousands of maniacs!

"The show was fantastic and both the audience and us enjoyed every minute of our performance. We are very grateful to the HF organization for treating us so well and having us at their awesome festival and of course specially thankful to all these Avulsed fans, friends and in general to all death metal lovers that watched our show.

"We hope to meet you again at some other European festival in the future!! Here you have a few of the first videos on YouTube from the Avulsed performance." More...

Swedish death metal legends Grave will release their 10th studio album "Endless Procession Of Souls" on August 27th in Europe and on August 28th in North America via Century Media Records. To give fans their first preview of "Endless Procession Of Souls," the band has now revealed the track listing and cover artwork for their new album.

The art was once again made by the experienced hands of Costin Chioreanu, who also worked with Grave on the two preceding studio albums. Costin has not only done the cover artwork, but also some extra art for the inside of the CD booklet and the vinyl. The following press release was issued about the album:

"Recorded at Studio Soulless, Endless Procession Of Souls promises to be yet another death metal masterpiece in GRAVE's revered catalog, featuring ten tracks of uncompromising no-bullshit death metal, flawlessly executed by the sole survivors of the real legendary Swedish Dödsmetal scene. Endless Procession Of Souls combines the brutality of Grave's last two studio albums with the groove of Soulless and--of corpse--a lethal dose of Into The Grave darkness."

Val Allen Wood from the Athens, Georgia-based melodic metal band Theocracy has uploaded a guitar instructional video for the track "Altar to the Unknown God," which is available below. The track comes off the latest Theocracy album "As The World Bleeds."

"As The World Bleeds" was released in Europe on November 25th through Ulterium Records, in North America on November 21st through Nightmare Records, and in Japan on April 25th through King Records. You can check out a song from the album, titled "I Am," at this location. More...

Moss will return to live action on Thursday 19th of July for a special show at The Black Heart in Camden, London joined by Rise Above label mates Witchsorrow. More details about the event are available through Facebook and advance tickets can be found at this location.

Currently putting the finishing touches on the writing process, Moss will be entering Earth Terminal studios in early July to begin recordings for an as-yet-unititled third album, to be released by Rise Above later in the year.

Brazilian thrash metal band Ancesttral has released an official music video for the first track off its latest EP "Bloodshed and Violence," which was released via Digmetalworld Records in February. The music video was directed by Vinícuis Neves and edited by Fernando Bonifácio. Download the EP "Bloodshed and Violence" for free at this location. The EP "Bloodshed and Violence" was recorded at "anywhere we could plug our shit and record," produced by Ancesttral and mixed and mastered by Paulo "X" Anhaia with the cover concept and design by Leonardo Brito.

Norway's Trollfest has posted a sequence from "The Making of Brumlebassen" about the song "Illsint." Check out the video clip below. The song "Illsint" will be on the upcoming album "Brumlebassen," due out August 24th via NoiseArt Records. The album's track listing is as follows:

Evile has announced a one-off London show on July 3rd to celebrate the recent release of the "In Memoriam" single. Joining Evile at the Old Blue Last, Shoreditch will be label mates Savage Messiah.

"In Memoriam" – taken from Evile’s latest album, "Five Serpent’s Teeth" – premiered on VEVO earlier this month, and is also available on iTunes including an acoustic version of the track, a radio edit, and the official music video.

The show on July 3rd will be free entry, with donations being taken for the British Lung Foundation. A flyer for the event can be viewed here.

Guitarist Ol Drake comments: "With the release of the 'In Memoriam' video & single, we're pleased to announce a FREE show for you all at the Old Blue Last in Shoreditch, London to celebrate it's release. It's no secret why the song exists, and who it's for, so as well as the show being free entry we'll also be taking optional donations on the door for the British Lung Foundation in memory of Mike Alexander, so give as much as you can to support them in their tireless efforts. Come one, come all! I guarantee it will be a great night! see you all there!"

Swedish doomsters The Gardnerz have unveiled the track list and artwork, which comes courtesy of Daniel "Devilish" Johnsson, for their recently completed EP, entitled "It All Fades." Guitarist Wilhelm Lindh comments on the EP, which is a follow up to the band's debut "The System of Nature."

"This time around the songs are a bit slower and darker than on 'The System Of Nature.' We tried to continue on the path we have chosen. We have found our niche and have no reason to stray, so if you liked our first release you will like this. This time it was a bit more of a group effort and I think that made the songs stronger."

Drummer Vedran Bencic recorded his tracks at Armageddon studio in Osijek Croatia. Guitarist Wilhelm and bassist Francisco returned to Funky Cat Studio in Landskrona Sweden, where "The System of Nature" was recorded, to lay down their parts. Vocals were tracked by Niclas Ankarbranth at Ninja Studios in Malmö Sweden. "It All Fades" is expected to be released by mid-2012 via Abyss Records.

AMP Magazine has presented the exclusive premiere of Ghostlimb's cover of Hot Water Music's "Southeast First." You can stream Ghostlimb's version of "Southeast First" at this location.

The song appears on "Confluence," the new Ghostlimb album, due out July 10th on Vitriol Records. "Confluence" is the band's fourth full-length and the second in a trilogy-in-progress. Pre-orders are available here and the track listing is as follows:

U.K. based act Sylosis has just completed work on anew record. The upcoming album is called “Monolith” and was recorded with Romesh Dodangoda in Wales at Monnow Valley Studio. Vocalist and guitar player Josh Middleton commented:

"Some people might not have expected us to come out with a new album so quickly but we already had a few songs written for this album by the summer of 2010. We've spent as much time writing this album as any of the others and I think we're all the most proud we've ever been. Monolith is the best representation of us as a band in terms of our diverse influences and stylistically it's what we've always been aiming for. A mixture of thrash, big doomy riffs and dark atmospherics and ambience.

"Overall, Monolith has a darker vibe to anything we've done in the past, both lyrically and musically. It's a concept album which is just something I like to help guide me writing the lyrics. I like the fact that I can write about personal issues but dress them up in a way that people might not know exactly how they relate to me (if at all in some instances). The idea for the concept was very loosely inspired by the Greek tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. It's quite far fetched but it's about this guy who loses his wife and tries to bring her back from underworld. This giant monolith starts to grow out of her tomb. The most prevalent theme beneath it all is sort of accepting that you might not be as nice a person as you once thought. It sounds really cheesy but everyone has a darker side to their personality in terms of being selfish, manipulative or dishonest. A lot of metal lyrics are always 'you're this, you're that, you suck' and in a lot of cases it's probably really hypocritical. Some of the lyrics on this album are about owning up to those flaws and almost reveling in it.

"Some parts of the album is us covering new ground but everything that people have come to love about our band is still present. It's not necessarily a change in direction or something we're moving more towards, it was just about making a unique vibe for this album as a whole. There's a real urgency to a lot of this material and the really natural and honest production helps mirror that. We really wanted more of a 'live session' feel. Both Romesh (Dodangoda - producer, mixer) and Jens (Bogren - mastering) have done a great job in giving this album a unique sound. Too many bands these days rely on technology and it can just suck all the life and personality out of the music."

“Monolith” will be unleashed on September 7th via Nuclear Blast Records.

On September 14th, the new Bullet record “Full Pull” will be released worldwide on Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded in Gutterview Recorders in Solna/Stockholm, along with Nicke Andersson (Entombed) and Fred Estby (Dismember). Below you can find the artwork, created by Gustav Sandstedt.

The track listing is as follows:

01. Midnight Oil02. Full Pull03. Running Away04. All Fired Up05. Rolling Home06. In The Heat07. High On The Hog08. Rush Hour09. Freeriding10. Gutterview11. WarriorsBONUS TRACK:12. Get On

In advance of the album release, there will be a 2-track single out on July, 13th. The track listing is:

German power metal band Rebellion has posted a short update on its official Facebook Page. In the post, bass player Tomi Göttlich commented on the band's upcoming sixth release:

"The recordings are going well and we hope to release in October...any guesses about the topic of the album??? smile ... one song is called 'Ala Germanica'...now what do you make of that???"

The album will mark the first for new members: Matthias Karle (drums), Oliver Geibig (guitars) andStephan Karut (guitars), after the major lineup change in 2011. The band's latest album was the 2009 release "Arise - From Ginnungagap to Ragnarok: History of the Vikings, Vol. III."

The Chariot has released a behind the scenes clip of the band's time in the studio recording the upcoming record "One Wing," due out August 28th, 2012 via eOne Music / Good Fight Music. Check out the video below. In a recent interview the band was asked what their mindset was when going into the studio on "One Wing," and front man Josh Scogin commented, "Let's get weird."

The Chariot will be hitting the road this summer on the Scream It Like You Mean It tour algonside We Came As Romans, Oceano, and Attack Attack. Further details on the tour are available at this location. More...

This year's Summer Breeze festival will be taking place from August 16th - 18th, with full details available at the festival's website here. The organizers of Summer Breeze have now issued the following announcement about confirming new bands:

"Since the release of their amazing breakthrough album 'Inwards', Dew-Scented have been at the forefront of European thrash metal. Since then, the cool bunch led by frontman Leif Jensen have been producing fantastic albums full of unstoppable riff power and overwhelming intensity at nicely regular intervals, cementing the band's excellent reputation time and again. In 2012, Dew-Scented aim at kick-starting their career with an entirely new line-up – with the exception of band boss Leif – and the fantastic new album 'Icarus', and are gearing up to shatter the Summer Breeze Open Air into small pieces. We are stoked to welcome the indestructible machine called Dew-Scented at our festival once more. Get thrashed!

"When Agrypnie played the Summer Breeze festival in 2008 for the first and only time so far, they were booked as consolation for all those who were mourning the recent disbanding of Nocte Obducta. Four years, one studio album and one EP later, the Hessians have made a career for themselves, having now reached the same level as the aforementioned group. Their new studio album is still being recorded as we speak, but their last EP 'Asche' was already an announcement for big things to come in the realm of post black metal. Expressive, multi-faceted, melancholic, dynamic – all these attributes fit Agrypnie like a glove and are underlined by the fact that their songs don't ever become predictable or interchangable. One of the most exciting bands our scene has to offer nowadays."

Russian death metal act Kartikeya today offers you a single from the band's forthcoming third album, "The Horrors Of Home," which was recorded with Keith Merrow and Aleksandra Radosavljevic (Above the Earth). Check out the single in the YouTube player below, or by heading over to the Kartikeya bandcamp page.

Rock Band players rejoice - there are finally new metal songs hitting the Rock Band network again this week! The Xbox 360 edition already has new tracks from Amberian Dawn and Nightrage, while the PS3 version will see new songs from Devin Townsend and Greek death metal demons Septicflesh next week.

Metal Blade Records CEO Brian Slagel has been featured in the book "Tales from the Stage." A portion of the proceeds from each book sold are being donated to Ride For Dime, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting music education through America’s youth. The following press release was issued about the book:

"Take a personal journey with some of the biggest names from the hard rock and heavy metal movement as they relive their past, discuss the present, and enlighten us about their plans moving forward in the music industry.

"Tales from the Stage Volume 1, written by Michael Toney, consists of 15 in-depth interviews with some of the most influential names from the hard rock and heavy metal genre. Each interview starts with basic personal questions (birthday, hometown, education, marital status, etc.), then dives into their career leaving no stone unturned. Interviews include Tracii Guns, Eddie Trunk, Tim 'Ripper' Owens, Jeff Duncan, and Metal Blade's own Brian Slagel, just to name a few." More...

Gojira's new album "L'Enfant Sauvage" is scheduled for release on June 22nd, 2012 (EU) and June 25th, 2012 (North America) through Roadrunner Records. The entire release is still available for streaming online over at Muscradar.com here.

Roadrunner Records recently sat down with frontman Joe Duplantier and had him go through the albuym, track by track. He explains the lyrical messages of each song, the approach Gojira took to the music, and more.

Here's Part 2, in which he discusses tracks 5-8 - "The Wild Healer," "Planned Obsolescence," "Mouth of Kala," and "The Gift of Guilt." Part 3 will be coming soon. More...

Kaotoxin Records has now officially announced its latest signing: French death metal act Ad Patres. The band will be releasing the new album "Scorn Aesthetics" this coming September 3rd, 2012 and Metalunderground.com is proud to premiere a track from the impending release.

Check out the third track cut off the album, "Scars of Compromise," in the player provided below. The full "Scorn Aesthetics" track listing is as follows:

01. …02. The Lock03. Scars of Compromise04. Circles of Red05. To the Fathers06. Scorn Aesthetics07. In Vivo08. Emphasize Nihility09. Anti10. All that Remains

Finnish metal superstars Children of Bodom have inked a worldwide recording deal with Nuclear Blast Records. The celebrated metal label -- which worked with the band over the early stages of its career -- is proud to announce the renewed partnership. Children of Bodom kicked off a year long celebration of its 15th anniversary with a successful North American tour alongside label mates Eluveitie and now has a new studio album planned for release in 2013.

"We had a good, long, productive run with Spinefarm Records for fifteen years and now it's simply just time for a change," said Children of Bodom front man / guitarist Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho. "I'm absolutely stoked to start the new chapter of COB's career with Nuclear Blast and look forward to working with them."

"Personally, I am so excited to work with Nuclear Blast again," adds COB bassist Henkka T. Blacksmith. "We have such good memories from the beginning of our career with them. We know the people already and we know how committed they are in doing metal!"

Nuclear Blast Europe A&R rep Jaap Wagemaker shares: "15 years ago we were introduced to a very young band from Finland who blew us away with their track 'Deadnight Warrior' from their debut album Something Wild. And their music was indeed something wild! Fast-tapping guitar work combined with incredible keyboards and angry vocals...it was the start of the career of Children of Bodom. Nuclear Blast released their first three albums outside of Finland: Something Wild, Hatebreeder and Follow The Reaper; albums that became classics in the history of metal. Unfortunately, after the third album, we went separate ways but we have always been following them and stayed in contact. Children of Bodom became a very big band worldwide and now the time has come to welcome them back home! We at Nuclear Blast are very happy to see Children of Bodom rejoining the Nuclear family and are looking forward to working their next albums. You can be sure that 'something wild' will come your way!"

Pure Steel Records has issued the following announcement about the "Hammer Damage" album from Omen being postponed:

"We regret to inform you that the new Omen album 'Hammer Damage' release is postponed again. The hurricane damage to Kenny Powell's house was larger than first thought, so problems in the completion of mixing and mastering could not be avoided. We were hoping to finally being able to realize a release at the specified date - it was not to be."

Guitarist Kenny Powell adds: "First off I hate to be an excuse maker, but I have had a huge problem with the studio, I have been putting off a new roof on my house until the record was finished, after several days of heavy rain, the studio was flooded and the roof collapsed in. It took me several days to patch things up and clean up all of the equipment, thankfully nothing was damaged."

The "Hammer Damage" track listing is as follows:

1. Hammer Damage2. Knights of the Cross3. Era of Crisis4. Epitaph for a Warrior5. The Canyon6. Demons7. Caligula8. Hellas9. A.F.U.

Within the Ruins has posted a second video update online of the band's time in the studio working on an upcoming new album for Victory Records. Check out this new clip below or find the last studio video update at this location.

Veracruz, Mexico metal band Silence Of The Dead is streaming its entire six-song EP "Behind the Mind of a Murderer" at this location. The EP is also streaming on YouTube, with an upload provided for you below. Silence Of The Dead recently recruited a new drummer and has already played live in Coatzacoalcos at the Se Desata La Bestia festival last month.

Mexican metalcore band The Julia Set has released a new two song demo which features the tracks "A Blatant Lack of Conscience" and "Our Days as Humans." The band and Mexicore blog invite you to check it out by going to this location. The Julia Set will be playing tonight, June 22nd, with Here Comes The Kracken and Drop The Silence at the Francisco Villa Plaza in Leon, Guanajuato. Check out an upload of the first track from the demo, "A Blatant Lack of Conscience," below:

The American/German symphonic metal band Kamelot is proud to announce another key piece leading to the release of an upcoming new studio album. A question foremost in every Kamelot fan's mind has been: Who is the group's new lead singer?

and mastermind and guitarist Thomas Youngblood has now revealed: "The new man is Scandinavian Tommy Karevik!"

The general public may not be overly familiar with the 30 year old Swede, Karevik, but people in the industry know him as the frontman of the Swedish band, Seventh Wonder. Youngblood states: "We had around 800 candidates for the vacant position, among them a number of really renowned musicians, and having to reject them really wasn't easy. We want to thank all the applicants, thank you for your understanding and we wish you all lots of success in the future!"

In the search for a new singer, Thomas Youngblood found YouTube to be an amazing tool: "I listened to a clip of a studio production featuring Tommy and have to confess that his performance really amazed me. His approach to melodies and themes suits Kamelot perfectly, and during our European shows we had plenty of opportunity to find out what a great guy he is."

Tommy first appeared as one of the guest singers on Kamelot's 2011 Pandemonium World Tour. Tommy states: "The tour was a lot of fun and I met a lot of nice people and got some good experience. The guys were super nice and we had a great time together! By then I was really into the band's music and had fallen in love with the amazingly loyal and dedicated fans at every show." More...

Florida's Underlined is set to release the new album "Deadtime Stories" on August 14th, 2012 and the band has now released several songs off the record. Check out the tracks "The Suffering," "Our Redemption In Your Ruins," and "Within Destruction We Rise" below. Underlined is also currently working on a full music video for "Within Destruction We Rise," which is set to drop soon. More...

Swedish death metal act Evocation posted a trailer for the upcoming demo compilation, "Evoked From Demonic Depths - The Early Years," which is scheduled for a digital release on June 26, 2012 (North America). Imports of the physical release will be available exclusively at CM Distro, which includes a 32-page booklet and three live bootleg videos.

The track listing is as follows:

1. A Wind Has Risen2. Through The Darkened Peril3. The Ancient Gate4. Desolated Spirits5. On A Journey To Heaven6. Where The Headstones Shine7. Veils Were Blown8. Spiritual Affinity9. Outro10. On A Journey To Heaven (rehearsal)11. Where The Headstones Shine (rehearsal)12. Spiritual Affinity (rehearsal)13. Veils Were Blown (rehearsal)14. Genesis More...

U.S. death metal act Nile posted the first in a series of track-by-track videos for the band’s forthcoming LP "At the Gate of Sethu." The album is scheduled for a July 3, 2012 release through Nuclear Blast Records. In the first installment (shown below), drummer George Kollias and guitarist/bassist/vocalist Dallas Toler-Wade discuss the idea behind the songs.

The track listing for "At the Gate of Sethu" is as follows:

01. Enduring The Eternal Molestation Of Flame02. The Fiends Who Come To Steal The Magick Of The Deceased (streaming here)03. The Inevitable Degradation Of Flesh04. When My Wrath Is Done05. Slaves Of Xul06. The Gods Who Light Up The Sky At The Gate Of Sethu07. Natural Liberation Of Fear Through The Ritual Deception Of Death08. Ethno-Musicological Cannibalisms09. Tribunal Of The Dead10. Supreme Humanism Of Megalomania11. The Chaining Of The Iniquitous

Luca Turilli's Rhapsody announced the first string of European dates on the "Cinematic World Tour" to commence this fall with more dates for 2013 expected. The European release of the new album "Ascending to Infinity" is today. The album is scheduled for a North American release on July 3, 2012 through Nuclear Blast Records.

This week a look at three new videos, first, Beggars & Thieves teaches us gun safety, and then Hart celebrates the eighties with an ultimate tribute. Finally, it’s the Killer Klowns sending us on our way with a beat-your-head its Friday tune. More...